Police Pursuit Ends In Crash

Published on 1/5/2008

New London — Police were searching for the driver of late model Kia station wagon Friday night after the Kia and a police cruiser wrecked on Shaw Street at Denison Avenue.

Police at the scene said the cruiser had signaled the Kia to stop, but the driver turned off the lights and sped away. A moderate speed chase, police said, ended when the Kia, possibly hitting the ice left by a broken water line at 9 Denison Ave. failed to make the right turn onto Shaw Street.

Both cars ended up in the bushes between two residences. The Kia sideswiped the entire driver's side of a van that was parked on Shaw Street.

Two police officers and one person who was in the van went to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.

Meanwhile, police with help from Amtrak police began a search for the driver of the Kia, who fled on foot after the crash. Police searched a marshy area between Shaw and Howard streets, and from Willetts Avenue to Hamilton Avenue for the driver.

They also searched the area of the former Miner & Alexander Lumber Co. and the train tracks to the east, with the assistance of a tracking dog and a thermal imaging unit provided by the fire department.

They had not apprehended the driver late Friday night.

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By Tim Cook

• New London fire and police personnel work the scene of a three-car crash involving a New London police cruiser Friday at the intersection of Shaw Street and Denison Avenue in New London. The crash occured around 9:45 p.m. during a police pursuit